But in order not to affect the morale of the troops on the front line and to avoid chaos, Sun Deng gave special instructions before his death:
Before His Majesty's decree comes back, he must keep the news of his death a secret, which is the legendary secret of mourning.
Although Sun Quan had seen strong winds and waves, when he suddenly received the news of Sun Deng's death, he was still shocked to the point of being devastated. He even felt a sense of fear in his heart and his hands and feet were cold.
the reason is simple.
Not only are most of Wu's troops now on the north bank of the river, but even he, the emperor of Wu, is also on the north bank of the river.
The sudden death of Prince Sun Deng, who was originally guarding the rear, left the entire rear feeling truly empty.
If someone is plotting evil in Jianye at this time, the consequences will be simply unimaginable.
Thinking of this, Sun Quan immediately held back his tears - this was not a sad moment!
"Someone is coming!"
"His Majesty?"
"Immediately send an order for the whole army to retreat!"
"Here!"
"Also, take my warrant and go to Jingzhou to meet the general..."
When Sun Quan said this, he suddenly paused again, his expression a little uncertain.
Finally, he looked at the legacy of the prince that he had been holding in his hand and was reluctant to put it down, and finally relaxed and said:
"Have someone take my order and ask the general if he wants to withdraw his troops."
"Here."
After everything was arranged, Sun Quan seemed to have been drained of all his energy and energy, and his body suddenly slumped down.
Sun Quan, who had officially entered the age of hearing loss, finally truly looked like an ordinary old man.
When he was attacking Hefei, Wang Ling used his fine cavalry to attack the grain roads in an attempt to cut off the army's retreat.
Under the emergency situation, clan relative Sun Shao took the initiative to stay behind. Although he blocked the thieves, when he retreated from the camp, he was still entangled by the fine cavalry of the Wei army.
Sun Shao had few soldiers and only infantry, so his formation was almost overwhelmed.
Sun Shao was forced to personally lead his bodyguard into battle, and then he barely managed to stabilize his position. However, in the chaos, he was stabbed by the Wei cavalry's halberd and injured.
After returning to the ship, although they tried every means to treat him, he eventually bled to death.
Sun Shao's death dealt a certain blow to the morale of the army.
Therefore, after Sun Quan learned that Quan Cong had withdrawn from Shouchun and that Zhuge Ke would not be able to capture Lu'an in a short period of time, he urgently summoned the two of them to Chaohu.
Unexpectedly, just after he stabilized the morale of the army, Sun Quan received the news that Sun Deng had died of serious illness.
The heavy blow of losing two relatives in succession made him unable to bear it anymore.
Sun Quan trembled and sat down on his couch, and once again spread out the memorial written by Sun Deng:
"...Lu Xun was loyal and diligent to his time. He was born and worried about his country. He served as a public servant and had the reputation of being a bandit..."
He originally wanted to order Lu Xun in the west to retreat immediately, but he changed his mind at the last moment because of what Sun Deng said in his memorial.
At this time, Sun Quan still had a glimmer of hope in Lu Xun.
I only hope that he can be "loyal and diligent in his time" as the prince said, and capture Xiangyang to relieve himself of his worries.
It can also be said that Sun Quan was still unwilling to give in at this time.
This time, the whole country's troops marched northward, and so many people died. If they had not returned without success, it would have taken the Wu Kingdom many years to recover.
Thinking of the internal and external troubles in the future, when Sun Quan urgently withdrew his troops and returned to Jianye to take charge of the overall situation, he could only treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor and let Lu Xun, who was far away in Jingzhou, take action according to the situation.
After all, although Dongfang did not capture Shouchun, it finally frightened the thieves.
If Lu Xun could really cooperate in capturing Xiangyang from the west, he would have achieved his goal this time.
Sun Quan's idea was very good, but he didn't expect that he had just arrived at Ruxukou and Jingzhou and sent someone again to deliver urgent news:
General Zhuge Jin died of illness in the army.
Sun Quan, who was standing on the boat, swayed when he heard the news, and his eyes suddenly turned black.
He couldn't care less about maintaining the imperial demeanor in front of all the soldiers, so he collapsed on the ship's deck and shouted sadly:
"Heaven will destroy me, Wuhu!"
Zhuge Ke, who was following him, also burst into tears when he learned that his master had died of illness:
"The adults are seriously ill, but the children cannot take care of them. It is really unfilial..."
For a time, all the officers and men in the army were in panic, and the army had no fighting spirit.
Quan Cong, who temporarily led the military on behalf of Sun Quan, had no choice but to lead his army by boat to leave Chaohu and return to Jianye.
As Sun Quan returned to Jianye, news that Prince Sun Deng died of illness finally began to spread.
At this time, Lu Xun, who had been hiding since the Wu Kingdom sent out troops, finally appeared in the army led by Bu Zhi.
"Come on, General?"
Lu Xun's sudden appearance surprised Yi Yi Zhi:
"Why are you here? Your Majesty..."
Lu Xun raised an arm, signaling Bu Zhi not to continue:
"Let's talk inside."
He immediately took the lead and headed towards the handsome tent.
Seeing Lu Xun's appearance, Bu Zhi frowned slightly, then followed him.
When the two came to the tent, Lu Xun turned around, faced Bu Zhao who was following behind, and asked seriously:
"General Bu, a few days ago I only asked you to retreat to Bian County (i.e. the border of Wei, Wu and Jingzhou) to wait for orders. Why did you retreat directly to Dangyang?"
Lu Xun nominally had the right to take charge of everything west of Zhangyu.
But in fact, in order to ensure the stability of power in Jingzhou and prevent Lu Xun from becoming dominant, Sun Quan took great pains in personnel arrangements.
He allowed Bu Zhao to lead an army alone and garrisoned Xiling (that is, Yichang City, not far from Yiling). He also guarded against Ji Han and Wei State, and obeyed his orders directly and was not controlled by Lu Xun.
Lu Xun is a representative of the Jiangdong clan, while Bu Zhi is from the Huaisi Group.
Just like Ji Han in the early years, the outside veteran faction, the Jingzhou faction, the Dongzhou faction, and the Shu area faction who entered Shu earlier, all fought together and fought openly and secretly for the right to speak for the benefit of their own factions.
Even now, faced with the gradual rise of the Yongliang wealthy families, the newly incorporated Guandong aristocratic families are willing to put down their status and seek a place in Jihan.
In the State of Wu, the Jiangdong Native Group and the Huaisi Nanxia Group were the two most important forces in the Sun Wu regime.
Naturally, it is impossible to be selfless, put aside prejudices and selfishness, and work together to build a beautiful Wu.
In order to prevent Lu Xun from getting into trouble with General Bu Zhi, Sun Quan placed the kind-hearted Zhuge Jin in Jingzhou.
Zhuge Jin had a good relationship with Lu Xun, and also made friends with Bu Zhi in his early years, traveling around Wuzhong.
It can be said that over the years, it is precisely because Zhuge Jin coordinated between Lu Xun and Bu Zhi that the two have always been able to live in peace.
Now that Zhuge Jin suddenly died of illness, Lu Xun inevitably spoke in a bad tone when the military situation was urgent and he was not obeying his military orders.
Although Bu Zhi's official position is not as good as Lu Xun's, his qualifications are much older than Lu Xun's. Naturally, it is impossible to show weakness at this time:
"General, it's not that I don't want to obey your orders, but His Majesty hastily sent someone to deliver news about the death of the prince."
Bu Zhao stared at Lu Xun closely, "Your Majesty's letter to me mentioned that the Wu Kingdom's rear was empty, so he had already led his troops back to Jianye, just in case."
"Now that the general (i.e. Zhuge Jin) has passed away suddenly, people in Jingzhou are in turmoil. I am taking this action just in case."
Lu Xun did not listen to Bu Zhi's explanation and just asked:
"Has Your Majesty ever issued an order to allow the general to withdraw his troops?"
Bu Zhao didn't answer in silence.
Naturally, Sun Quan had no explicit intention to give in to Bu Zhao and retreat, but how could Bu Zhi not know His Majesty's concerns after following Sun Quan for so many years?
"Since Your Majesty has not given in to the retreat of the infantry general, then the infantry general must still obey my orders."
Lu Xun's tone became stern:
"I can tell General Bu that nothing unexpected happens in Jingzhou! Now I want General Bu to return to the north immediately as planned."
Bu Zhi continued to remain silent.
Seeing this, Lu Xun took a deep breath, softened his tone and said:
"General Bu, this time the troops of the Wu Kingdom marched northward, the cost was incalculable, and many supplies were borrowed from the Han Dynasty."
"If we return without success this time, Dawu will be defeated and will be unable to use its weapons again for at least a few years."
"Now that the power of the Han Kingdom is growing day by day, the Wei thieves have divided their capitals to rule. The strong ones are getting stronger, and the weak ones are getting weaker. It is not yet known how long the three kingdoms can maintain their power as a tripartite."
"Based on the current situation in the world, the best thing is to unite with Wei and resist the Han, and let the Han and Wei thieves fight to the death; the next best thing is to unite with the Han to destroy Wei, and try our best to swallow up the territory of Wei and strengthen Wu."
"However, the only border between Wu and Han is Yong'an. Its terrain is so dangerous that even a million-strong army cannot attack it against the current."
"Moreover, the Wei thieves themselves cannot be protected now. If Wu and Han are at odds with each other, Wu will lose a lot of assistance and it will be difficult to get it back from the Wei thieves."
"So now we can only take it down and continue to unite with the Han Dynasty to destroy the Wei Dynasty." Lu Xun said so much in one breath, and then he breathed a sigh of relief, "Xiangyang is the barrier of Jingzhou."
"After the destruction of Wei, Wu faced Han. If there was no Xiangyang, there would be no way to defend Jingzhou and lead the generals. This is a battle for the fate of the country!"
Having said this, Lu Xun had already spoken sincerely.
Bu Zhao was finally no longer silent:
"I know what the general said. If this is the case, then I will follow what the general said and continue to return to the north."
When Lu Xun heard this, he was overjoyed and bowed deeply to Bu Zhi:
"If Xiangyang can really be captured this time, General Bu will be the first to succeed!"
Bu Zhao did not dare to accept Lu Xun's gift. He turned sideways and returned the same gift:
"The stallion is only for the country, not for merit."
"Then I will work hard with General Bu to capture Xiangyang!"
With the cooperation of Bu Zhao, Lu Xun did not stay for a moment and immediately rushed to Jingcheng east of Dangyang.
Fifty thousand troops have been secretly assembled there, which is the maximum strength Lu Xun can mobilize at present.
Guanqiu Jian's guess was correct. The Wu army in attacking Peizhong did not try their best.
But what he guessed wrong was that it was not that Wu Jun did not want to try his best, but that Zhuge Jin simply did not have enough troops at that time.
Because some of Jingzhou's elite soldiers did not go to Paizhong at all.
Lu Xun also mobilized all the troops in Wuchang, Yuzhang and other places, and finally gathered the 50,000 troops.
Jingcheng is located on the edge of the Han River. At this time, the Han River was densely covered with Wu warships.
Thanks to Ji Han's huge pressure, the Wei army has not harassed the south for a long time.
In addition, Zhuge Jin led his army to attack Peizhong, and Feng Yong led his army to appear at Caoqiao Pass, which made Wei Jun Wuli send a scout horse south to investigate here.
Therefore, Guanqiu Jian had no idea that there was such a large army secretly spying on Xiangyang.
Upon learning that Lu Xun had returned, Zhu Ran, Sun Lun and other generals leading the army immediately came to see them:
"General, you are finally back!"
Lu Xun stood behind the handsome man with a solemn expression:
"Send my order and the whole army will set off immediately to attack Xiangyang!"
When Zhu Ran and others heard this, they immediately responded excitedly and loudly: "Here!"
Soon, the sound of war drums and horns sounded in both the water and dry villages.
The Wu army secretly gathered at Jingmen, like a poisonous snake lurking in the shadows, finally showed its fangs.
May is the season for southwesterly winds, and occasionally southeasterly winds.
But whether it is a southeasterly or southwesterly wind, you can take advantage of the wind.
The Wu army warships on the river, using the tower ship as a node, continuously issued orders, began to raise their sails, and rushed towards Xiangyang in the north.
When the Wei army in the north learned that Zhuge Jin had died of illness and saw the Wu army retreating, they only thought that the crisis was over.
But he didn't expect that Bu Zhao would lead the army and return.
The Wei army in Tiaozhong was almost caught off guard. If it had not been for the elite cavalry as scouts, they would have been successfully attacked by foot stallions.
After the Xiangyang garrison learned about the Wu thieves' deception, they immediately sent reinforcements. Unexpectedly, personal guards rushed in rolling and crawling:
"General, it's not good! Wu bandits, there are so many Wu bandits..."
"I know Wu Kou. Isn't it just that Wu Kou came back and wanted to sneak attack on Peizhong? There is nothing to be nervous about..."
"No, no!" The guard was so anxious that he couldn't finish his words and pointed his finger outside, "It's in the water, in the water, Wu Kou is coming from the water!"
"Water surface? What water surface..." Before he finished speaking, the guard's face suddenly changed. He hurried forward, holding the guard's collar and shouting, "Wu Kou came from Han River?"
"Yes, it is!"
The guard general abandoned his guards, walked two steps at a time, and finally ran all the way, rushed to the top of the city, and looked towards the river.
Sure enough, on the east side of the river, there was an overwhelming number of warships, like a fortress filling the water, densely packed, like a plague of locusts passing through, galloping towards Xiangyang.
The guard's legs went weak and he almost lost his balance.
He held on to the parapet, turned pale, and murmured:
"Thieves, this is to follow Guan Yu's old plan and separate Fan Xiang!"
The people on the left and right were equally panicked: "General, what should we do?"
"Why are you panicking! Xiangyang is a fortified city. In the past, Guan Yu besieged Xiangfan, and China was shaken, but he could not break the city. How can the mere Wu invaders be as brave as Guan Yu?"
The general of Xiangyang is an old man in the army. He also experienced the Battle of Xiangfan and accumulated military merits before climbing up the ranks.
"Send my military order to pull up the suspension bridge of the moat and close the city gate!"
"Also, before the thieves cut off the water, immediately send people to the north bank to convey the military information!"
Xiangyang is close to the Han River to the north and dangerous mountains to the south. It is also a fortified city. No matter whether the thieves come from the south or the north, they will have dangers to rely on.
There is also Fancheng on the north bank, which echoes each other. It can be said that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Although the general of Xiangyang was shocked by the magnificence of the Wu army's warships, he finally did not forget his responsibilities and began to make arrangements.